[Flashback] Books and Bindings (Hadrian)

[Aidemma Kim]

Summer 87, 505

The heat of summer had barely begun to fade. The day was blistering, and the grand Bazaar was packed with souls attempting to escape the sun. The din from the crush of bodies was almost deafening, smothering conversation in the hot air. The smaller alleyways were cooler away from the central hub. Down a west running alley sat Books and Bindings, set back from the noise and disturbances of market. Inside the air was close and cool, heavy with the smells of thick paper and a hint of dust toward the back rows. A small desk, defended by walls of unsorted books sat patiently by the entrance. Cramped shelves with crisp handwritten labels filed toward the walls, each narrow path between them ending in a faded, overstuffed chair. It was a small crowded shop, but organized, and the bright lights hung regularly about the space shone pleasantly upon each shimmering title pressed into the leather bindings.

Aidemma pushed the rear door open, walking backwards into the shop, her arms piled high with freshly bound books. The girl was short and skinny, her red hair falling in a thick braid over her green dress. She headed quickly for the appropriate aisle, and set her load carefully down. Kneeling she began to burrow into the stack of tomes, placing each new inhabitant in it's proper place. It wasn't planned to be a busy day, her mother had gone to the bazaar for supplies while her father worked in the back, binding new arrivals, working on special requests for the well to do.

Sitting behind her stack of books, hidden, sorting her way through the shelves Aidemma smiled, freckled cheeks rising up to her green eyes. A nice empty day like this was always pleasant. She enjoyed spending time alone in the shop when her parents were out. The presence of other bodies was disturbing in a place like this. Only when you were really alone, when the room was empty, did the right sort of feeling begin to settle in. Alone with the books the air changed a bit, it became heavier, and that sweet smell of paper and leather fell into, and rested on your skin. It became solid, and more comforting than ever. With a deep breath Aidemma sighed, enjoying her moment with the stacks. A small tinkling made its way to her ear, disrupting the gentle press of silence.

"Welcome to Books and Bindings!" Aidemma said in her shopkeeper voice to whoever had entered the store, "I'll be with you in a moment." She looked at the pile of books barring her way out of the narrow chasm between the shelves.

[Hadrian]

The sixteen year old Hadrian strolled into the shop, but didn't pause at the sound of a woman's voice. He knew this shop and all the others in Syliras like the back of his hand by now, and he headed immediately to see if they had anything new on the subject of Denval, the secluded settlement in Kalea that had been forgotten for 451 years after the Valterrian until the Zeltivan expedition of Kenabelle Wright found them again. He liked stories like that and wanted to know just what they had been up to for the past forty-four years. Perhaps someday he would go there... "Don't mind me," he called. "I know what I'm looking for!" When he turned a corner, he had a bee-line view from the nearby armchair to the girl -- not yet a woman -- in green. He almost tripped over his own feet, but managed a wild-eyed smile before disappearing around another bookcase. Leave it to the gangling youth with no social skills to speak of to take a minor embarrassment and blow it out of proportion. Now he was hiding in the... animal husbandry section? He didn't know anything about animals, really. What was he doing here?

[Aidemma Kim]

After a bit of rearranging Aidemma managed to extricate herself. Walking quietly over a large red rug that stretched across a good portion of the floor she headed for the aisle the boy was in. Peering about the bookshelf she saw him looking about, he seemed a bit bewildered. Hardly seems to know what he's looking for, does he? she thought to herself with a grin. He was a couple years older than her, but familiar looking. Must come here often though, if I've managed to remember him...

Moving fully around the oak shelf into view Aidemma smiled at the boy, a gave a very slight curtsy. "Please, if there's anything I can help you with, let me know," her voice was smooth, and fell softly amongst the books, marking what row they were in she added, "If your interested we just got a new volume on Talderan sleigh dogs, written by a Vantha, a truly expert work." She smiled again, and smoothed her skirt idly, waiting for his response. The muffled conversation of a gaggle of women on their way home from shopping snuck under the door, filling up the brief silence between them. She thought it a bit odd, finding him in this section, it wasn't the first place she would have guessed his interests lay. Nonetheless, she was here to watch the shop, not badger the customers about their reading selections.

[Hadrian]

"I, oh... I took a wrong turn," he said, then blinked, and then turned on his heel and fled back around the corner to the section where they might have something on contemporary Denvali culture. Chlorine blue eyes peeked at her from between the rows of books, though he was quick to start perusing a book before she could make eye contact. Nervous as a virgin in a whorehouse, he was. And books were the things that most relaxed and excited him, so if he was this bad in a bookstore...

[Aidemma Kim]

Aidemma raised an eyebrow and gave a small smile of resignation, it didn't seem like he wanted to talk. When she glanced at him again his eyes were flicking quickly across an open book. The girl shrugged and returned to the aisle where she had been sorting, one away from Hadrian.

The next book was bound in green, with silver lettering delicately pressed into the supple leather, it was a wonderful new binding. Smiling to herself Aidemma ran a finger gently across the spine, enjoying the slick coolness beneath her skin. The book was on herbs of Konti Island, not something she was particularly interested in, but it looked so beautiful. Carefully she flipped it open to a page in the middle, the new spine reacting slowly. Along the margins of the page flowers and vines climbed next to elegant calligraphy. Beneath the images, in spindly letter were written the names of the plants, well hidden among the leaves.

Shutting the book carefully Aidemma scanned the shelf for its new home, and fell to rest on the top shelf. Sighing Aidemma stretched up, the book in one hand reaching toward the gap, her other resting against a lower shelf for support. Standing on her toes the edge of the book tapped against the shelf and no more. Returning to the flat of her feet Aidemma rocked backwards for a moment, preparing for another go before she dug through the storage room for a stool.

[Hadrian]

If pressed, Hadrian would not have been able to put his finger on exactly what made him act so paranoid today. It wasn't a special day. This wasn't a new location. He thought he might even have seen the girl around before, the daughter of the owners, he thought. In any case, he couldn't find the book on Denval, but he had found something else to pique his interest: an illustrated copy of Kenabelle Wright's account of her great circumnavigation of the continent. He did look up occasionally to peek through the bookshelves at the girl, and when he saw the beautifully bound book in her hands, he felt a twinge of envy. If only his father were a book merchant, or one of the poobahs of the House of the North Winds in Ahnatep with their stranglehold on the wadj market and their celebration of academia. "Do you need help?" he asked, peeking around the bookshelf at her when he saw she couldn't quite reach the correct shelf to put it in its place. He liked having things in their place, especially his books, which were cataloged in his own system at home. He was no muscle-bound knight to do heavy lifting, but he was tall enough to reach the shelf without breaking a sweat. Also, he needed to redeem himself for being so weird a moment before.

[Aidemma Kim]

Aidemma spun about quickly, in the silence she had nearly forgotten about the shy boy. "Wha-? Oh, yes please," she said with a polite smile, and carefully passed over the book, "I'm just a bit too short. It goes right in between those two." She stretched up and tapped the wood beneath two thick books.

Tugging at the end of her braid Aidemma's green eyes followed Hadrian as the book fell into place. His eyes were shockingly light, a rare shade, but it seemed as though she had seen them before. "I'm sorry to bother you, but you look rather familiar. Do you come here often?" she asked when he had finished. She hoped she had met him before, that perhaps he might like to talk. Nearly all of the books had been shelved by now, and it didn't seem as though today would be a very busy day. As much as Aidemma loved her parents shop, minding it with nothing to do while a sole guest wandered through the aisles got boring very quickly for a fourteen year old.

[Hadrian]

He did take a peek at the book before shelving it for her. Kontinese herbology was something he would read about, though he wasn't sure if that would be his best purchase of the day. Contrary to popular belief in the Aelius household, he could turn down a pretty book. He tried to limit his purchases. Some of his allowance was stashed away to study in Zeltiva in case his parents didn't support that decision. He had other brothers and sisters to follow in his father's footsteps, but merchants were notoriously greedy, so Trajan Aelius might want all of his offspring to act as extensions of himself with regard to future employment. Of a certainty, most of his siblings were happy with that. "Yes," he said. "Well, I frequent most of the bookshops frequently. Usually a different one every week, though there aren't all that many so I recycle fairly often. Your parents own this place, don't they?"

[Aidemma Kim]

Aidemma's smile widened, her freckled cheeks rising up to her eyes for a moment. "Not many people out age are interested in books, it's wonderful to meet someone else who enjoys reading." He did seem to be a few years older than her, but still, it was much closer to her age than most who came into the shop.

Aidemma nodded, her long braid dancing a bit with the motion of her head. "Yes, they do. My name's Aidemma Kim," she said, holding out the hem of her dress slightly as she gave him a very shallow curtsy, "A pleasure to meet you..." She trailed off, waiting expectantly for the young man's name.

(Ah, sorry, they keep getting shorter! WB)

[Hadrian]

"Well, eventually I want to escape to Zeltiva and the university, so I'll need to know as much as I can to compete with the other students... That sounds bad." He thought for a moment. "I would like to see other places on my own. I would like to go to university in Zeltiva and be prepared to interact with educated peers." He smiled apologetically, then bowed in the proper manner. It wasn't all that common to bow anymore, but his mother was a stickler for niceties. "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Hadrian Aelius. Son of Trajan and Plotina... My father's a merchant."